It was only a season ago redshirt senior Reagan Rutherford was wearing Kentucky blue and taking the court in Lexington as a Wildcat. Now she returns to a familiar floorboard, this time donning burnt orange for the Texas Longhorns after transferring this past year. She helped lead her new team to a sweep and victory in Texas’ 10th win of the year.
Texas continues to dominate in the SEC, adding on to its undefeated conference record by defeating Kentucky 3-0 on Sunday. This win marks the Longhorns’ seventh consecutive victory and fourth consecutive sweep this season.
Though the SEC may be new territory for most of the Longhorns, it is familiar to two of the teams’ best players, Rutherford and senior Madisen Skinner. Both Skinner and Rutherford formerly played for the Wildcats, with Skinner’s transfer coming in after her 2021 season. Both Skinner and Rutherford were present for Kentucky’s national championship run in 2020 as freshmen.
Rutherford and Skinner were not quiet in their return to Lexington, as Rutherford led the team with 10 kills accompanied by a 0.438 hitting percentage. Skinner added eight kills to a Texas total of 40 in the match. Other notable performances came from reigning SEC Player of the Week redshirt sophomore Marianna Singletary who dealt four kills and nine blocks, and freshman Ayden Ames with six kills and four blocks.
Texas saw little resistance from their Kentucky counterparts, with each set proving to be one-sided for the majority of the contest. The Longhorns did trail 9-8 in the first set before going on a 7-2 run and taking the lead. Kentucky garnered some momentum and tied the set at 17, but Texas pulled through with a final score of 25-21.
Texas dominated the second and third set to take yet another victory in the SEC. After starting the season off slowly, splitting its first six games and holding a 3-3 record, Texas has heated up, entering the SEC in impressive fashion. With today’s victory, Texas takes its fourth away win in the past five games. The team will now try to make use of its home-court advantage, as it hosts its next five matches at home.
Sunday’s victory saw a balanced Texas offensive and defensive display, demonstrating that one of the team’s greatest strengths continues to be its depth. They will next face Arkansas at home Friday at 8 p.m. and hope to continue their unbeaten conference streak.
